South Portland launches redesigned city website

SOUTH PORTLAND — In an effort to go from “archaic” to efficient, the city has launched its new website.

City Manager Jim Gailey said the new southportland.org is a big step forward.

“After a number of years of the archaic website we were working with, this website will bring us into the future,” he said.

Developed at a cost of almost $14,000 by Bailey Donovan of Manchester, N.H., the site replaces an 11-year-old design, Gailey said. Funding for the redesign came from undesignated surplus; the look and feel followed designer consultations with city councilors and department heads, Mooney said.

“A major critical point was to make a home page that was welcoming and uncluttered, but offered dropdown menus by category to help citizens and businesses find the information they might be looking for,” she said.

Some interior pages, including the ones for the city assessor’s office, have not changed visually, but Mooney said web designers and staff have added new content.

A “Visitor’s Section” is still under development, and initial glitches prevented the Police Department from posting weekly arrest logs. But Mooney said the new site will be more comprehensive and interactive.

“Feeds will be developed to push information to folks in areas that they may have a particular interest in getting regular information updates,” she said.

Suggestions and comments about the new website can be made using the “contact us” tab on the home page.